Crash Test Mannequin
by Animorphs007
Summary: Mary, the daughter of the not-so-lonely artist Guertena, is old enough to go to driver's education. Will she get her license and meet new friends? Or will her violent tendancies get in the way?


**This is my first story submitted here. If I did something wrong, please inform me. Thank you for reading.**

**It is all in Mary's POV. I do not own Ib, Kouri does.**

000

Crash Test Mannequin

A cloudy Monday afternoon brought me excitement, nervousness, and anxiety as my father Guertana pulled his car outside the unfamiliar building.

"Have you brought everything with you, Mary?" he inquired, staring me down with those tired blue eyes.

I smiled brightly at him and patted my backpack. "Everything I'll need." I answered.

He gave me a small, sad smile. "I'll see you when the lesson is over sweetheart. I gotta go now. My unfinished painting is calling to me."

Taking the hint, I opened the car door and approached the building without even acknowledging the car as it pulled away.

The building was dark inside, giving the impression that it was closed, but when I tried the door, it was unlocked. For a moment, I thought I was at the wrong place.

Then the sound of other teenagers chatting away reached my ears. I sighed with relief. For some reason, I feel afraid when I'm alone, like no one will be around ever again.

I headed over to the room where the noise was coming from. It was a dimly lit classroom with about 10 other teenagers. They went silent when I walked in, staring at me as though I were a painting.

A young man at the front desk looked up and smiled at me. He had pale lavender hair that fell in waves over his left eye and had a ratty looking grey coat. "Hello, you must be Mary." he greeted me.

I nodded and stepped in, closing the door behind me with a loud click.

I sat down next to a girl with straight brown hair and red eyes. She stared at me in fascination for a minute then twitched her lips into a smile. "Hi, I'm Mary." I told her.

"I'm Ib." she said in a quiet voice.

It was at about that time when the purple haired man stood up in front of the classroom. "Alright everyone, I'm Garry and I will be your instructor. Welcome to driver's ed."

0000

Later that night, I sat with my new textbook in my bedroom. The textbook wasn't nearly as big as my math book, but it was even more intimidating. Garry said that he wanted us to read it by next week.

'Hm, this doesn't look any fun.' I thought as I flipped it open to scan the first page. 'I don't know some of these words.'

I closed the book with a frustrated sigh and hugged my blue doll close. "I didn't think learning to drive would be this hard." I told my doll. It remained silent.

I looked back at the book in defeat, thinking, 'I wonder what's on T.V.'

0000

On Tuesday, Garry held up a piece of paper for the class to see. "This is really important, so listen carefully." he said in a serious voice. "This paper here is that sign-up sheet for driving experience. Choose a classmate to be your partner and write both names, the date you will be driving and the place we'll meet." He placed the sheet on the edge of his desk.

"Now then, did everyone read the first chapter" We're having a quiz today." He continued.

'Oh crap!' I thought, 'I got distracted again.'

Panic welled up in me as Garry walked up and down the tables, passing out the quiz. As he neared Ib and I, a brilliant idea hit me.

I took out my blue doll from my backpack (because I take that thing everywhere) and placed it on my lap.

At first Garry didn't see it. When he handed me my paper, I smiled at him brightly. The sudden movement must have reactivated his brain because it was then that he noticed it.

"WAAAHHH!" Not only was his scream satisfying, but his terror stricken face was priceless. He had launched himself backwards as though my sweet little doll would attack him. Even shy Ib giggled at his reaction.

"W-what is that thing?"

I giggled, "It's just a doll." I told him.

"Well put it away." He said firmly. For some reason he didn't like my like my poor doll.

"You aren't scared of it, are you?" I taunted him.

"N-no! it just startled me is all." Poor Garry was getting flustered, so I put the blue doll back in my bag to make him happy.

He escaped back to the front of the room and watched silently as we took the quiz. I cannot telly enough how frustrating it was to take that test. There wasn't one question where I didn't think, 'I don't know this word.'

By the time the quiz was over, my brain was throbbing painfully behind my eyes. 'I really should have read that chapter.'

Garry had us watch a film while he graded the papers. It was short and honestly I didn't learn much from it. It was about driving on icy roads, I think. I don't know, I sort of blanked out once it started.

After class had ended, I looked over to Ib as she quietly organized her things. "Hey Ib, do you want to be my partner for the driving experience?" I asked her.

She stared at me with her solemn red eyes until I almost regretted asking and finally responded. "Sure…"

I gave her a cheery smile. "Yay!" I squealed, "It'll be so much fun. I can't wait! Are you free next weekend?"

She nodded and I swear she had a ghost of a smile on her lips at my excitement.

"We should meet here on Saturday morning then. Here, I'll write it down for us." I proceeded to write our names, the time, and place we'd meet in the sheet on the front desk.

Garry, who was packing his things too, noticed what I was doing and grinned at us encouragingly. "You two already planning ahead of time? Well alright, but you've got to remember to inform your parents. Get their consent." he told us.

"Okay Garry." I said.

"Fine," Ib answered quietly before leaving.

I followed her out, taking my doll to show her. "Hey Ib, do you think this is cute?"

She took a look at my precious doll. "I guess so…" she said unemotionally.

I beamed at her. "I have the feeling we're going to be the greatest of friends." I accidentally slipped out.

She doesn't even notice my forwardness. She stayed silent as always until she went to where her parents were waiting for her. "Goodbye, Mary." She replied before she disappeared into the vehicle.

"See ya, Ib."

0000

That first week passed in a flurry of videos, quizzes, and bookwork. It was difficult to juggle schoolwork with driver's ed. I wish I could say being overwhelmed makes me creative like my dad, but I only feel exhausted.

That was the reason my Saturday morning was hectic.

"Argh! I knew I forgot something! I'm going to be late! What're Ib and Garry going to think of me?" I screamed, throwing my clothes on and tossing my things carelessly into a bag. "Daddy! We gotta go!"

"I'm in the middle of something, Mary. Bother me later, sweetheart." He called from his bedroom. I could hear him murmuring and an answering giggle.

Furious, I grabbed the closest thing I could close my fist around, which just happened to be a pallet knife.

'Violence isn't the answer.' part of my brain thought. I loosened my grip on the handle… and threw the knife at Dad's bedroom door. It sunk in the soft wood with a satisfying thunk.

"Snuggle with your girlfriend later, Daddy. I have to be somewhere. I'll give you ten minutes to come out before I kick the door down." I threatened before gathering up my things and waiting in the car.

In nine and a half minutes, he came trudging out. And did he look mad! But the only thing he said about my tantrum was, "You shouldn't play with knives, Mary. You'll end up getting cut."

We got to the driving school in record time. Ib hadn't arrived yet. Garry waved at Dad and I when we pulled up. As soon as I was out of the car, my father pealed out like he couldn't leave fast enough.

Garry seemed a little startled that my dad would leave so quickly, but when I gave him my irresistible grin, his worries slid away. "Good morning." He said politely.

"Hi," I replied.

It wasn't long until Ib showed up with her parents. They wouldn't stop fussing over her. "Ib dear, did you remember everything? Oh, do you have the handkerchief you got for your ninth birthday? Keep it in your pocket, okay?" her mother interrogated her as she silently slipped out of the car.

'What could she possibly need a handkerchief for on a simple drive? Ib doesn't look like the weeping-buckets type. I doubt we'll be that bad at driving anyways.' I thought as Ib bid her parents goodbye.

After the parents drove away, Ib came over to us. "Good morning, Ib. Let's get started, shall we?" Garry addressed her with a bright grin.

Ib gave a small smile and we followed him to his car. It was a really pretty shade of blue. I do like blue. I also like pink and yellow.

"Who would like to drive first?" he asked, stopping in front of his car.

"Oh, oh me! I'd like to drive first please!" I offered enthusiastically.

Garry handed me the keys and I skipped cheerfully to the driver's seat. Garry sat shotgun and Ib sat right behind me.

I paused once in front of the wheel, trying to remember what I was supposed to be doing. Hesitantly, I pulled my seat forward, fixed my mirrors, and fastened my seat belt before starting the car.

Garry beamed at me, "Good job, Mary. Now put it in reverse and pull out."

I obediently put it in gear and twisted around to look out the rear window. I slammed my foot down on the accelerator and out of the parking space we flew. "Eeeeek!" Garry clutched at the handle in front of him. "Not so fast, Mary!" he yelled.

I lifted my foot from the gas petal and slammed on the brakes. "Sorry. I must have mistaken the accelerator for the brakes." I explained as I switched it to drive and crept the car out of the parking lot.

"Okay, you can take it up to 35 now." he told me, relaxing his grip slightly.

'35 what? Is that the name of a highway I'm supposed to go to? The chapter on highways said the speed limit is almost always 70 mph.' I calculated in my mind.

As I sped up, Garry's agitation grew. "Mary, what are you doing? We're still in town. Slow down- Watch out! You're going to hit someone, Mary! MARY!" he shouted, clutching the handle so hard his knuckles were turning white.

I turned a deaf ear to his cries. I was having too much fun to think of the consequences. The rush of driving fast was thrilling. It was a taste of the freedom I was searching for, and nothing could take that away from me.

That is, nothing could until Garry slammed his foot on the brakes on his side of the car. The car screeched to a halt at the red blinking light I didn't notice before. "Mary, you're going to get us killed. I think you should switch places with Ib." he stated coldly.

My blood boiled at the thought of this cowardly adult ruining my fun. But if I reacted in anger, then he would take away my freedom forever. "I'm sorry!" I started to sob, making Garry uncomfortable, "Please, just give me one more chance." I begged.

The driving instructor sighed and looked back at Ib. "What do you think, Ib? Do you want to wait a while longer?" he asked her.

From the rearview mirror, I saw her scrunch her nose in thought. "It doesn't matter." she said before sinking back into her usual silence.

"Alright then, Mary, you have a second chance." He nodded at the road ahead. "Although you brought us to a part of town I've never been to before… Oh well. We'll get back to the school eventually. Just keep going forward until then."

"Okay." I answered. After checking to see if the coast was clear, I drove us forward. I was careful to keep under the speed limit based on the signs, but I was itching to go back to the speed before.

The street turned into dirt road, but Garry wanted me to continue forwards, even when the road narrowed to the point where only one car could get by a time.

To make issues worse, we came up behind a van that was going like 5 miles per hour. "Be careful. You're going to have to be patient with this guy." Garry advised.

I tightened my grip on the wheel in irritation. 'Everyone is out to get me today.' I thought.

I inched the car along behind the van, which apparently had all the time in the world. "In my way. In my way. In my way." I repeated this over and over under my breath. My voice grew and grew with my irritation.

"Mary?" Ib asked.

"I'M MARY!" I shouted before slamming on the brakes.

Both of them stared at me as I tried to keep my grip on self-control. "I think Ib should try now, Mary. Pull over to the side of the road. You can try again later." Garry said, giving me a concerned look.

I pulled the car over as best I could in the space I had and put the car in park. Ib and I switched places.

The van that caused my craziness had seemingly vanished in the time it took me to think straight. As Ib drove on, I sunk back into the seat with my blue doll on my lap.

I noticed that Ib drove very precisely. She stayed at the speed limit and followed Garry's every direction.

Eventually, dirt road became concrete again, but our surroundings were different. The houses along the street were painted white with crayon drawings all over.

"Well, isn't this a change in scenery?" Garry commented. At the next stop sign, we were able to read the street name. 'Sketchbook Dr.'

"Let's try to find a way out of here. This place gives me the creeps." Garry suggested.

Ib used her turn signal, checked for traffic, and turned. But the road we turned into wasn't complete. There was a sign halfway down the middle of it, preventing anyone from driving past. Ib braked and stared in bewilderment.

"That's odd." I said, leaning forward to see the sign better, "It says 'Leave'."

"I have a bad feeling about this place." Garry added.

A flash of light reflected in the rearview mirror, signifying a car was behind us. With my full attention on the mirror, I could see that it was the stupid van from before.

It came barreling from behind us and smashed right into the back of Garry's car, right where I was sitting.

Before my world faded to darkness, I thought I saw a mannequin head with bleeding eyes grinning at me from the other car's driver's seat.


End file.
